ABA NEWS RELEASE

ABA President Laurel G. Bellows states that, "The ABA Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defendants is pleased to join the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers in presenting these valuable recommendations for solving the nation's indigent defense crisis. Every criminal defendant, whether rich or poor, deserves a qualified lawyer to defend against the state's charges. We hope that policymakers will consider our joint report, along with ABA guidelines, standards and other resources […] to make needed changes and fully implement the Supreme Court's Gideon decision."

ABA President Laurel Bellows News Release, January 8, 2013

BACKGROUND

Convened on January 9, 2012

On January 9, 2012, pursuant to a Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Assistance (DOJ BJA) grant the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defense (ABA SCLAID) and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) convened a focus group to explore cost-effective innovations to improve the overall caliber of the nation’s public defense. The focus group was part of a larger grant-funded project that allowed the ABA and NACDL to provide national defender training sessions in Atlanta, Austin, Indianapolis, and Las Vegas on topics that included forensic science and client-centered representation.

The Focus Group brought together a unique and unlikely set of allies who share the common goal of improving indigent defense; the Group included eighteen successful and courageous reformers from across the nation, representing all branches of state government, prosecutors, defenders and leaders of NGOs dedicated to improving indigent defense systems. The object was to draw on the experience of an array of innovative national reformers to produce a comprehensive menu of steps that may be undertaken by the Department of Justice. In recognition that funds are scarce, the Focus Group participants deliberately sought to identify strategies that do not necessarily rely upon funding. And where reform strategies do require funding, those projects that can produce maximum impact through the targeted application of limited funds were identified.

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Focus Group

FOCUS GROUP

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